So I tried gratitude. I wrote down 3 – 5 things every night I was grateful for. Ho, hum. Unexciting. Made no difference. Then I learnt a different way.
It’s not about saying thanks. It’s about FEELING thanks. Let me try to explain. There is this super thing called a rampage of appreciation (even the name makes you feel good). Check out Abraham Hicks for more details. Look around where you are. Focus on something that makes you happy. I looked at my shelves and there are 2 plants that were presents from people. They are still alive, halleluiah – very happy feelings! Next I started to focus on how they make me feel. I feel amazing – people loved me enough to want to buy me presents, they actually went out and bought me the presents, they spent their limited time/money/energy on me because I matter to them, they got the presents to me, and they were perfect presents that keep giving. How can you not feel loved and cherished and that I am very important after that? Now every time I look at my plants I feel big love. And then the rampage continues to the next thing around you that makes you feel good.
Over the last couple of weeks I have been really focussing on gratitude. Really noticing how I can choose to see my life as amazing. My bed, my view, my quiet apartment, free podcasts, farmers markets for organic vegies, time off work, books, new knowledge, loving cooking, enjoying nourishing my body, free online yoga etc. I’ve also used my 15mins meditation every day for the mantra ‘infinite love and gratitude’ with the last 5 minutes thinking about how that gratitude feels in my body.
And here’s the results (there is absolutely no scientific proof here of a link between my behaviour and these events, I’ve just noticed that I started being grateful and these things happened – make of it what you will):
- Last Friday at 4.30pm I was offered work this week. I was at the end of my cash flow and was going to use my overdraft to pay my rent next week.
- I didn’t expect to be paid this week because the usual pay cycle is 15th of the month. Next thing you know Finance let me know that I was getting paid this week. Rent now paid for the next 2 weeks!!!!!
- I was sent a present in the mail. I was on my $10 a day challenge and had run out of my favourite tea – organic earl grey. And that’s fine. I could drink other tea for a couple of weeks. Not important. And a friend sent me a new packet in the mail totally unexpectedly for no real reason. Pure joy right there.
- I was then given a huge bag of fresh herbs from a friend’s garden. Even more brilliant for my budget and my cooking.
- I then came home to a whole case of wine delivered by one of the best people I know. It was a thank you for a free holiday last year. Now this all sounds normal because a free holiday was involved, but the truth is I had used points through a club to book the holiday and then I couldn’t go for a few reasons. The fact this wonderful lady used the holiday actually made me happy that it wasn’t wasted! She was pretty much doing me a favour. It was just fortuitous that it turned out she really was in need of a break. So a huge win win. At the time she sent me the most beautiful heart warming messages which was way more than enough thanks as far as I was concerned.
- And then in even more fascinating news, she felt bad that the wine took longer than expected to be delivered due to a bit of a comedy of errors. I explained to her that I wasn’t drinking all of April so thank god it didn’t arrive a month ago. She was so pleased. The universe really does look after us really well. And just maybe, things happen for a reason.
So all I’m going to say is this – what if you just spent more time thinking about all the things you do have in your life and how they make you feel? Do you really NEED anything else? Or your life is already pretty bloody great?
Be kind to yourself.
Wx
